Author: suzannethinton

Dansez français

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Jan Mulreany shares her passion.

You might not think you would ever encounter a full set of cornemuses Auvergnates or cabrettes [bagpipes from the Auvergne region] in a Sussex pub, nor hear the wail of a French hurdy-gurdy as you come round the corner in Shoreham, but for the last thirty years someone has been doing this in Brighton, and dancing to it too.

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Dansez Français demonstrate their skills at the Centenary celebrations of the Brighton and Hove French Circle. Her Majesty the Queen gazes benevolently at the Breton flag. The Hove Club, 2015. Image: Suzanne Hinton.

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Jacques-Joseph Tissot in Brighton

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                                                James Tissot “Too Early” (1873) Source unknown

After being wounded in the Franco Prussian-war, and having briefly supported the Paris Commune in 1871, Jacques-Joseph Tissot made his way to London.  There he settled from some 11 years. He found immediate success.  The public and most critics admired the “delicacy of tone” in his pictures of “pretty English girls”. Continue reading →

Les Ateliers de Brighton

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Atelier Feb 2020

Originally tucked away in Providence Place, but now chased out by re-development in London Road, this tiny shop has spread its wings and flown down to 165 Kings Road Arches.  It now goes under the name of Tutton and Young’s Atelier by the seaside.  Still a great choice for buying exquisite small works of art or booking into a course on embroidery, jewellery, drawing, painting and many more. Continue reading →

The French Honorary Consul 1821 and 2021

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Early in 2021 Frederic Laloux was appointed French Honorary Consul for Brighton and Newhaven.  M. Laloux is the most recent incumbent of an official post reaching back to at least 1821. This post is unpaid, apart from expenses.  It occasionally carries the title Vice-Consul as the local consuls (there are about 30 across the UK) report to the Consul Général in London.

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Brighton as the first Honorary French Consul would have known it in the 1820s. Image (c) Regency Society / Society of Brighton Print Collectors

 

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Hove Francophiles

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Great to see Œuf café open once more. English afternoon tea (egg sandwiches, anyone?) and a beautifully secluded garden in Third Avenue.

Let’s hope that the name of this house [My Dream] in Marmion Road lives up to its occupants’ expectations.

Do the owners of La Mouette [The Seagull] in Windlesham Avenue support Brighton and Hove Albion, or do they just love the bird?

Brighton-Biarritz 1938 and 1946

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This badge is tangible proof of the fact that there was once a close link between Brighton and Biarritz going back nearly a century.

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Delegates badge 1938 – Courtesy of the Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Biarritz had hosted a delegation of Brighton worthies in 1932 with a view to forming tourism and cultural ties between the two towns.

It was now Brighton’s duty to return the French hospitality.  Not an easy or cheap task for Brighton to emulate the generous hospitality of the French town.  At first, a visit to Brighton was projected for 1933 but did not take place. Continue reading →